Owning your own home

I wouldn't count your chickens. EWS2 is likely to be as big a mess as EWS1.

Yeah I'm thinking we may end up putting it off for a bit, my only saving grace is I fixed the mortgage for 5 years 18 months ago, so was planning to take a hit on early repayment fees when we move, but it means in the worst case scenario I've got a decent rate for a while without having to worry about not being able to remortgage

Our house sale fell through today, essentially due to a developer putting in a planning application to demolish our next door neighbour’s house and replace it with a block of 8 flats.

He doesn’t own the house, nor does he have an accepted offer on it, but apparently anyone can put in a planning application on a property irrespective of ownership. Which just seems crazy to me.

We’re now essentially stuck until our neighbour finds a buyer. The house has been on the market for nearly 6 years.

I only swear in real life but that is tempting.

jesus, that's fucking horrible. thoughts with you

We’re now essentially stuck until our neighbour finds a buyer.

Knock your house down and build 8 flats?

Mine has basically fallen through now. The buyer is back looking for alternatives and unless my situ changes in the next 2 weeks they will buy something else.

It means I have to become a landlord which isn't awful but not what I wanted. Luckily I'm on a tracker mortgage.

We’re in a semi-detached house so I think our neighbour (on the other side) may have cause for objections.

I don't know how I feel about this.

god thats bleak, why the hell is that a thing

Imagine the party wall agreement.

Crap luck, Andy. I'm sure you know this, but planning applications on land that a developer doesn't own often happen because land is more valuable with planning permission granted. Landowners often reach an agreement with a developer that the latter should negotiate planning permission so that they can then sell the land to them at a higher price. This is often worth a developer's while, especially if the owner would otherwise not sell at all. It may therefore be that the developer will be your neighbour's buyer if they succeed in obtaining planning consent. It might be worth getting advice as to whether the application is likely to succeed. You do quite often get absolutely nonsensical applications made speculatively or in bad faith in case they somehow slip through the net.

Anyway, all this may not apply in your case, but perhaps it does. Have you talked to your neighbour about what's going on or is there no communication?

I feel the tiniest glimmer of hope. And 99% certainty that it will condemn me to a big bill and a long wait.

It would mean that lenders are justified in asking for an EWS for buildings under 18m and remove any chance of a buyer finding one who'll let it slide. I hope it also means the govt will increase the funding available and actually start paying out from it.

So we will be putting our place up for sale in the next 6 weeks as we are applying for planning permission on another building. Our place is 3 bed semi with off street parking and 2 garages, small garden. It’s a neat tidy early 70s in the same road as Reigate station. Great schools close to the amazing green spaces and surrey Hills. If you have had enough of London and are selling up it’s worth a look. My neighbours place is for sale for £445k ours will be a bit more. If interested let me know. Mums house has gone under offer now. I can direct to neighbours details. Which are with Lewis and white, Reigate

link to Twitter thread?

This hasn't been a great 24 hours for this thread, sorry to everyone whose sales are now on ice.

It's not a competition but @andyp probably wins worst scenario. Does this mean that if someone has a grudge against you they can just put in a planning application to turn the houses next to yours to flats when you sell your place?

So we will be putting our place up for sale in the next 6 weeks as we are applying for planning permission on another building.

It's not near Andy is it?

We’re now essentially stuck until our neighbour finds a buyer

You have to hope that the app gets turned down - what’s a reasonable time for that, 3 months or so?

Mine has basically fallen through now. The buyer is back looking for alternatives and unless my situ changes in the next 2 weeks they will buy something else.

I didn't realise you'd got a buyer, I thought the whole issue was you couldn't sell it without an EWS1 certificate? Think I must have missed something.

The issue would be you couldn't mortgage it. So you could sell it, for cash. But then that buyer would struggle to get a buyer further down the road who wasn't also a cash buyer.

Yeah, I've had a buyer the whole time. It was their mortgage application that made me discover about the EWS1

Thanks everyone for the supportive words. It's appreciated.

We live on a corner of a road and our next door neighbour has the corner plot which comes with a substantial garden, hence the developer interest. However, there is a culverted river running across the back of the garden which complicates any planning application and access is also problematic, as it is only 2 metres wide, which effectively prevents vehicular access as it's not wide enough for emergency vehicles to get in. Most sensible developers understand the limitations of the site and steer clear, but there seems to be a select few who think they can make it work. The council keep rejecting applications but we keep getting chancers who try.

We thought this one had gone away but he put in a second application just over a month ago, which will likely be rejected but in the meantime our buyers have been frightened off.

If it gets rejected it can get appealed. The council planning officer has encouraged the developer to withdraw the application rather than reject it, in the hope that he won't then be able to appeal but he seems set on developing the site. Even though he has no route to buying it currently.

The deadline on the application is tomorrow, but the planning officer doesn't have all information required to make a final decision, due to Covid related delays so it will be extended.

shiter for rogan and andyp. house moving is stressful enough without this pish. : /